DN girls soccer gets first win in Ferndale

The Del Norte girls soccer team picked up its first win in its first road game of the season on Wednesday. The Warriors went to Ferndale and came home with a 3-1 victory over the Wildcats to improve to 1-2 overall this season.

“Their hopes are really high to keep this momentum up,” said Del Norte head coach Ashley Herrera. “They are super anxious to play the next game, and they are ready to train hard. They are proud of themselves and proud of their teammates. It just feels good to get that first win — it always feels good.”

Harrera said she thought Del Norte was much more aggressive with the ball when it had chances to score, which helped the Warriors out score the Wildcats.

“Our girls were really picking up the momentum with taking that shot,” Herrera said. “They took advantage when we got into the goalbox and trusted each other when they were up there. Our passing and our communication was very on point in this game and the girls took advantage of that.”

Lanaeya Botelho, who scored both of the Warriors goals prior to Wednesday’s game, started off the scoring once again for Del Norte. The junior recieved a pass from Johanna Cajita and buried it into the right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Ferndale managed to pull even with a goal of its own in the first half, but Botelho managed to strike again just before halftime. Samantha Alanis started the play out wide and sent a cross into the box where Botelho was able to connect to regain the lead at 2-1.

In the second half, Botelho dished out an assist, finding Alyssa McCovey in front of the goal and the freshman converted the opportunity for a 3-0 lead.

“The girls were in triangle formation whenever they needed to be, they were calling for the ball, getting open, and finding open slots to pass the ball. They were amazing in this game,” Herrera said.

Later in the second half, Alissa Roach went back between the pipes to play keeper for the Warriors and helped Del Norte preserve the win.

“She is a freshman, but she was calm and collected in the goalbox,” Herrera said. “She had one of our huge highlight saves when Ferndale almost scored on us. She is just very good.”

Del Norte will be back in action on Saturday with a road game at Eureka. The game will kick off at 11 a.m.